When Edana awoke, sunlight was streaming in her window through the heavy lavender velvet curtains. She yawned, stretched, and was surprised to find that she had no traces of a headache from the wine the night before. There was a huge, ornately carved wardrobe against the wall past the end of her bed, which she soon discovered to be full of beautiful dresses, along with numerous other articles of clothing. She chose a pale grey dress for today. It was floor length silk chiffon, with a low V-neck, tightly fitted to the hips, and with a very wide hem. It had a silver bead pattern sewn onto it that somehow gave the impression of being simple and elegant at the same time. Underneath went a floor length silk slip of the same color and the same cut – large enough that if she spun around in a circle it flared out around her nearly to her thighs.

Edana was delighted. Ever the strange conglomeration of opposites, she loved to dress up and be glamorous as much as she loved creating excitement (which inevitably always led to trouble). She was briefly annoyed that she did not have much to 'put into the top', as she would have said, but as there was no help for it she went her merry way to the dining room, wondering what time it was and if there was any food around. She found Jareth in the throne room, lounging on his throne and listening unenthusiastically to a report by one of the goblin soldiers.

He welcomed her entrance as a chance to get away from the droning goblin. Taking Edana’s hand, he spun her around in a pirouette. "Lovely," he said approvingly. "I’m so glad there were some old things to fit you. He could not help but notice how the pale grey set off the color of Edana’s hair, especially in the sunlight. "It was a gorgeous morning," he said, back to his casual sarcastic wit. "Too bad you missed it. Ever so kind of you to join us for dinner, though."

Edana gasped. "It’s not that late already, is it?"

"No," Jareth said, his smile revelaing that he only wanted to annoy her. "Not quite." He sat back down in his throne and dismissed the goblins, indicating with a wave that she should sit in the red velvet chair beside it. "So, you’re Sarah’s cousin." Edana nodded. "How is she?"

"Why?" Edana asked distrustfully.

"I just wondered," Jareth told her innocently. "We came to know each other very well during her short time here."

"Yes, she’s happy," Edana stated stiffly, looking away. "Her life is quite bordering on perfect." The tinge of bitterness had seeped into her voice before she could stop it.

"Jealous?" he asked with acute interest. This was better than he had anticipated.

"No," she said with more force than was necessary.

The Goblin King smiled wickedly. "Want revenge?"

Edana glared at him. "Sarah’s family. That means more than petty vengeance to some people. Besides, she didn’t do anything to me. It’s not her fault she’s everybody’s baby."

Jareth shrugged. "I was just curious."

"Don’t you know curiosity killed the cat?"

"No need to get snappy," he reprimanded her with a sly smile. "Shall we see what she’s up to?" Without waiting for her answer, he produced a glass sphere from the air and held it aloft, peering into it. "Ah, yes, there she is," he said speculatively. "Hmm. Reading, as usual. Oh!" he exclaimed gleefully, "I do believe she’s just figured out what happened to you." He was silent, grinning, for a few seconds. "Now Sarah, that’s not ladylike at all…"

Meanwhile, Edana was straining to see, but was at the wrong angle. Finally she abandoned the idea of trying to be inconspicuous and leaned over onto the arm of the throne. "Let me see," she said eagerly.

"Ah-ah-ah," Jareth argued mildly, moving the crystal to his opposite hand so that it was farther away. He gave her a derisive look. "Curiosity killed the cat, remember?"

"Don’t be facetious," she sneered, and made a lunge for the orb. Her fingers closed around it, then it disappeared.

"Oops," Jareth said smugly. "Try to be a little more careful next time. My, but isn’t this cozy," he added, bemused, as she lost her balance from her precarious reach across him and ended up in his lap.

She stood up immediately and glared at him. "That was a nasty trick."

"Which," he asked, enjoying this immensely. He hooked one knee over the arm of his throne and smiled pleasantly at her. "Making you fall into my malevolent clutches, or taking away the ball?" Just to rub it in, he pulled another of the crystals from the air, and again made it vanish as she grabbed for it. "Come on," he taunted, producing another one. "Let’s see how long it takes for you to learn the rules of this game." He began passing it deftly from hand to hand. "Don’t you want to try once more?" he laughed as she grew ever more annoyed. "Three times the charm, you know…"

"You," she said in a low voice, "are infuriating."

Jareth laughed harder. "A fine art practiced for many years grows near to perfection, Love. To counter, you don’t have a sense of humour," he accused off-handedly.

"It’s not a sense of humour when you’re the only one laughing," Edana pointed out. "That would be better described as maniacal."

"Or maybe just sarcasm."

Edana looked away. His point was well made, and, she knew, just as well deserved. Such factors only served to make it all the more irksome. She decided to go to the library, both to find a book and to avoid any more confrontations.

Jareth, much to his surprise, was sorry to see her go. He had enjoyed the banter, and had also gained greater knowledge of Edana’s thinking processes. She was tenacious; even Sarah, who had stood up to him so brilliantly, had not talked back to him. Not that it could go uncorrected, of course. Perhaps later he would take care of it. He returned unenthusiastically to his kingly duties.

* * * * * * *

Edana couldn’t sleep, no matter what she tried. She just kept thinking about Jareth, was the worst part of it. After several hours of useless tossing and turning, she got up and looked out the window. The Garden below, the trees, the mountains in the distance were all shrouded by a think layer of mist, and shone silver in the moonlight. It was an unreal, breathtaking sight.

Since she was already awake, Edana decided to take a walk around the castle. She wrapped a black gauze robe around her forest green satin camisole, and stepped softly out of her room on bare feet. Eventually, she wandered into the throne room, since every hallway led to it sooner or later.

The room was empty, of course. The thirteen hour clock face read 2:30 and neither the goblins nor their monarch were awake inside the castle, it seemed. Edana could hear the guards on their rounds outside when she left the room to look out the balcony for a different view of the Labyrinth and the distant scenery of the Underground. Night had always been her favorite time, it was so surreal, and so susceptible to imagination. She went back into the throne room, cautious by nature. It was still empty.

One of the crystal balls sat gleaming in the moonlight, on the arm of the throne. It fascinated her, and the fact that she knew it was forbidden made it irresistible. Glancing around her once more, she seated herself in the throne and picked up the orb.

She nearly dropped it. As soon as she touched it, a mild shock ran up her arm and spread throughout her body. It was like the sensation one has while humming. She quickly grew accustomed to the feeling, and wondered how Jareth used it to observe people. All she wanted was to see Sarah, and try to communicate with her. Before she had even finished the thought, she saw the distinct image of Sarah, stretched out on her bed and reading, in her room.

"Sarah!" Edana said. She was astonished to see that Sarah had lifted her head and looked around her. Edana tried again. "Sarah!"

This time Sarah got up and murmured, "Edana?"

"Yeah. Hey, I can’t believe this works!" She watched as Sarah, apparently following her voice, stepped up to the mirror and looked into it.

"I can see you!" Sarah said in shock. "You’re in the mirror!"

"Cool!" Edana giggled. "You’ll never believe where I am."

"I figured it out, I saw my Labyrinth book open to the right page. Listen," she cautioned, "you have to get out of there! Jareth is very treacherous, and if he’s been nice to you there must be some ulterior motive. You’ve got to say the lines and get yourself back here."

"I will when I’m good and ready," Edana told her belligerently. "I like it here. And Jareth – he’s not such a bad guy, really."

Sarah was growing increasingly worried now. "Edana, you can’t let yourself believe him, no matter what. He’s dangerous even when you don’t make him mad, and you have such a way with people… If you won’t come home," she warned, "I’ll come get you myself."

"No!" Edana contradicted Sarah loudly, remembering a second too late that everyone else in the castle was supposed to be asleep. "This is what I need – at least give me a few months. Please. It would mean everything to me."

"All right," Sarah agreed reluctantly.

"Promise?"

"Yeah. I guess so." Just as she finished speaking, she saw a familiar figure behind her cousin. The crystal was plucked from Edana’s fingers, and Sarah heard a frightened "uh-oh" before the scene in her mirror disappeared.